Southgate keen to keep Huth

18 Aug 2009 09:46:00

Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate has warned potential buyers it will take an "exceptional" bid to persuade him to part with central defender Robert Huth.
The German international, who celebrates his 25th birthday on Tuesday, has been linked with a move to Stoke in recent days with the transfer window due to close at the end of the month.
Southgate said: "I would expect there will be interest in him [Huth], but unless that interest meets an exceptional valuation, then he is a player we would like to hang on to."
He added: "A lot of the time, it depends on the players as well and whether he has a desire to stay here. Now Robert obviously would like to play at the highest possible level - he has got a World Cup with Germany this summer, so I don't take it for granted that we can hang on to him.
"But by the same token, it's got to be a move that attracts him and that's right for all parties and at the moment, we are not in that situation."